Results of public consultation
Summary of submissions to the public consultation
The APSC received over 185 submissions from APS or Australian Government employees as well as external multicultural organisations. Most responses (93%) were in support of the goals and development of the Plan. Over half the responses were strongly engaged and offering suggestions to refine the detail of the Plan.
The tone of the feedback reflected deep interest, and a positive sentiment. It showed enormous goodwill and a strong desire to address these issues constructively for the benefit of the APS as a whole.
In order of frequency, the strongest themes emerging from the public consultation were that we need to:
- better understand and build on the diversity of the current workforce
- strengthen the APS as a model employer
- provide a safe, fair, equitable and inclusive workplace for all employees
- ensure the APS represents the community we serve.
The most strongly supported actions were those related to:
- targets
- recruitment and progression barriers
- senior representation
- bias and racism
- cultural safety
- accountability
Overall, the submissions to the public consultation process confirmed what we heard in our previous work, and broadly supported the proposed approach.
Questions we heard through the public consultation
Why does the APS need to reflect cultural diversity?
Half of the Australian population is either born overseas or has a parent who was born overseas. We need to strengthen our overseas representation with those who have native cultural and linguistic skills, especially in non-English speaking countries, to represent who we really are.
Sharing diverse experience, beliefs and approaches can help us understand how policy and service delivery settings impact different communities and enable different forms of collaboration with those communities. More understanding of the differences from all cultural, racial and ethnic backgrounds should be the norm across all organisations, as these differences bring a valuable diversity of viewpoints to our work.
What if non-CALD people end up worse off?
This Plan is about equity for all. It is not about privileging one ethnic or cultural group over another or about taking away existing privileges, rights or opportunities. Nor is it about changing existing laws or governance frameworks. It is about levelling the playing field for all by recognising and sharing the benefits of our many cultures.
We all have a culture but for some of us, our culture is the central norm. Those within that norm may not even recognise the centrality of their experience relative to that of other people. Nonetheless, having a singular central norm means people from other cultures always have to adapt rather than having a self-aware conversation about legitimate differences in style, behaviour and manner. This Plan strives for self-awareness, visibility and understanding in the workplace.
How representative is the lived experience evidence?
Lived experiences of discrimination and racism align with data from the APS Employee Census and employment figures. This data shows a consistent decrease in CALD employee representation at senior levels.
CALD people are not a homogenous group and a one-size-fits-all approach cannot work.
We recognise the inherent diversity of the employees we call CALD, and that even amongst people who share common cultural, ethnic or religious backgrounds, their identity and experience are intrinsically and uniquely different. We also recognise that some groups, from particular cultural, ethnic or religious backgrounds, face more barriers because of these differences, especially when this intersects with sexism and racism. This Plan does not ignore or dismiss these differences. It seeks to provide a foundation for improving CALD experience across the APS, with a recognition that further, more targeted action may be required over time to address issues for particular groups.